Nightmare cruise endsMOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A cruise ship disabled for five nightmarish days in the Gulf finally docked with more than 4,000 people aboard late Thursday, passengers raucously cheering the end to an ocean odyssey they say was marked by overflowing toilets, food shortages and foul odors. “Sweet Home Alabama!” read one of the homemade signs passengers affixed alongside the 14-story ship as many celebrated at deck rails lining several levels of the strick...

Ex-LA cop hostage story renews manhunt questions BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — Karen and Jim Reynolds say they came face to face with fugitive Christopher Dorner, not on a snow-covered mountain trail, but inside their cabin-style condo. During a 15-minute ordeal just a stone’s throw from a command post authorities had set up in the massive manhunt for the ex-Los Angeles police officer, the couple said Dorner bound them and put pillowcases on their heads. At one point, he explained that he had...

Sharp fall in US jobless claims boosts outlook WASHINGTON (AP) — The outlook for the U.S. job market is brightening after a government report showed a sharp drop in the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits. Weekly applications fell 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 341,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Outside a few weeks last month affected by seasonal distortions, that’s the lowest level in nearly five years. The four-week average, which smooths week-to-week fluctu...

Obama pushes preschool plan, won’t discuss cost DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — Raising hopes among parents who want preschool for all, President Barack Obama on Thursday rolled out a plan to vastly expand government-funded early childhood while keeping the price tag a secret. Republicans, wary of high costs and questionable outcomes, made clear they have no intention of signing a blank check. Setting up yet another clash with Republicans over spending and the proper scope of government, Obama in his S...

Buffett puts money in ketchup, buys Heinz for $23B NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett, the most closely watched investor in America, is putting his money in ketchup, agreeing Thursday to buy H.J. Heinz Co. for $23.3 billion in the richest deal ever in the food industry. For his money, the Oracle of Omaha gets one of the nation’s oldest and most familiar brands, one that’s in refrigerators and kitchen cupboards all over the U.S. The deal is intended to help Heinz accelerate its expansio...

Cartel kingpin is Chicago’s new Public Enemy No. 1 CHICAGO (AP) — A drug kingpin in Mexico who has never set foot in Chicago has been named the city’s new Public Enemy No. 1 — the same notorious label assigned to Al Capone at the height of the Prohibition-era gang wars. The Chicago Crime Commission announced the move Thursday, saying it considers Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman even more menacing than Capone because he’s the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which supplies most of the narcotics sold in ...

Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it’s an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies. It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say. The findings, published online Thursday in the journal Science, add to the mounting evid...

Bookkeeper who stole $53M gets nearly 20 years ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A former city bookkeeper was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison Thursday for embezzling more than $53 million from her Illinois community, in what ranks as one of the worst abuses of public trust in the state’s corruption-rich history. Rita Crundwell, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud for embezzling money from the city of Dixon from 1991 until her arrest last April, tearfully apologized in a Rockford federal courtroom ...

NRA chief renews call for armed guards at schools NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre renewed his call Thursday for armed guards in schools and urged gun owners to “stand and fight” for the Second Amendment. In a speech billed as the NRA response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union call for new gun regulations, LaPierre told the National Wild Turkey Federation in Nashville that the speech didn’t mention school security. Obama on Tuesday asked Co...

As others pull back, Vegas amps up gun promotions LAS VEGAS (AP) — One Las Vegas shooting range is selling “take a shot at love” packages that include 50 submachine gun rounds. Another is offering wedding packages in which the bride and groom can pose with Uzis and ammunition belts. And a third invites lovebirds to renew their vows and shoot a paper cutout zombie in the face. Never known for its understatement or good taste, Sin City is bucking the national trend of avoiding flippant gun prom...

Women’s security raised by American Indian leader WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the National Congress of American Indians urged the House on Thursday to pass the Violence Against Women Act so Native Americans and Alaska Natives can “protect their own people and surrounding communities against brutality.” Jefferson Keel’s appeal followed Senate passage on Tuesday of the act that continues to allow funding for domestic violence programs and victims support. The bill, which the Senate appro...

Papal conclave still largely a European club The face of the Roman Catholic Church has changed profoundly in Pope Benedict XVI’s lifetime. Congregations in the West are smaller and older, while those in Africa, Latin America and pockets of Asia are booming, bringing youth and energy to the Catholic world. That transformation has not been reflected in the makeup of the cardinals who will elect the next pope, however. In fact, the membership of the conclave remains — by its regional breakd...

Social Security chief: Program hurt by neglect WASHINGTON (AP) — Outgoing Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue has some parting shots for Congress, the White House and advocates for seniors. They have all “really walked away from Social Security,” he says, leaving the program “fraying because of inattention to its problems.” Instead of making the hard choices to fix Social Security’s financial problems, policymakers “use it as a tool of political rhetoric,” Astrue said. Astrue, 5...

VA grants burial rights for same-sex Oregon couple PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs has decided to allow the same-sex spouse of a member of the military to be buried in a U.S. national cemetery. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki granted a waiver of department policy to allow the burial of Nancy Lynchild’s ashes, the agency said in a statement Thursday. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who called Shinseki last month to lobby for the action, said the Oregon couple will become the...

Senate GOP blocks Hagel vote for now WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked the nomination of former GOP senator Chuck Hagel as the nation’s next defense secretary over unrelated questions about President Barack Obama’s actions in the aftermath of the deadly raid on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya. Obama accused Republicans of playing politics with national security during wartime, and Democrats vowed to revive the nomination after Congress’ weeklong break....

AP Exclusive: Documents detail Nixon, Clinton ties YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) — In the final months of his life, Richard Nixon quietly advised President Bill Clinton on navigating the post-Cold War world, even offering to serve as a conduit for messages to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and other government officials, newly declassified documents show. Memos and other records show Nixon’s behind-the-scenes relations with the Clinton White House. The documents are part of an exhibit opening Frid...

US Airways lands $11 billion merger with AmericanDALLAS (AP) — US Airways CEO Doug Parker has landed the big merger he sought for years. Now the soon-to-be CEO of the new American Airlines has to make it work. The fleet needs new planes and new paint. Frequent flier programs have to be combined. American's on-time performance must improve. And the airline needs to win back business travelers who have drifted to competitors. But Parker's nothing if not persistent. After months of courting, th...

Democrats to unveil bill to replace budget cuts WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies in the Senate are unveiling legislation Thursday to avoid a looming set of sharp, across-the-board spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and domestic agencies in just two weeks. The measure would impose a minimum tax rate on million-dollar incomes and replace the automatic cuts, known as a sequester in Washington-speak, with cuts to much-criticized farm subsidies and more gradual ...

JFK memorabilia draws hundreds to Mass. town BOSTON (AP) — A preview of John F. Kennedy memorabilia including notes by his special assistant on the day the president was assassinated is drawing hundreds of people to the northern Massachusetts town of Amesbury. David Powers, who died in 1998, was Kennedy’s assistant and close personal friend of his and his wife, Jackie. Powers also was the first curator of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston until he retired in 1...

Mother says she forgave man who held boy in bunker The mother of an Alabama boy held for days in an underground bunker said in an interview broadcast Wednesday that she forgave her son’s captor early in the standoff and asked authorities not to harm him. Jennifer Kirkland’s son, Ethan Gilman, was a captive for six days in rural Midland City, Ala., before FBI agents entered the bunker and killed 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes. Dykes “took care of Ethan to the best of his abilities” by cooking chic...